Season Four, Episode XXXVII

Build Up

. . .

Kibari Gendo

The Overmind

. . .

"So this is him huh?" A marvelous specimen, restrained but showing no sign of sentience just empty eyes. The exposed brain was positively disturbing. "The first Noumu we captured..."

"That is correct, sir." The guard nodded, one of the many who didn't question anything so long as you had the right badge and face. "The one that was part of the USJ attack."

"Mm, yes, Quirks include Super Strength, Shock Absorption, and Regeneration." I noted, rubbing a hand against my grizzled old chin. This body, old and useless. It had nothing but political power.

"Might I ask, Prime Minister sir, what your reason for wanting to see this monster is?" One of the guards questioned curiously.

What? Do you think its strange I hold control over such an individual? No, reaching such a prime target is quite easy. Find a guard, an assistant, a family member who's been exposed. And I can spread my roots like any aggressive virus. "The League of Villains, their threat grows every day... And though I'd prefer to leave everything to our ministry of defense, I'd still like to know exactly what we're up against... I want a full dossier of how this creature functions, prepared by the time I reach the exit."

"Y-Yes sir!"

I understood now, with these advancements the League had made in Quirks, and physiology, I didn't need to find myself a strong enough puppet. I just needed to make one. A new body, for myself to inhabit, with the finest Quirks I could muster. Starting with something that could maintain the body, yes... That would be most preferable, a Quirk that would allow uninhibited self healing. Finding one would be difficult, such quirks are quite rare after all.

Lucky me, that through the Prime Minister of Japan, I had an entire census worth of Quirks to sift through...

. . .

Kaiji Adachi

. . .

"Great progress everyone," I stood once more on the stone using it as a makeshift stand. Surrounded by my classmates at the northern beach, "I'm amazed how far you've come in just three weeks."

"Yeah only because of your training methods!" Gawara called out.

"We're gonna kick ass at the festival!"

I laughed lightly at that, "Remember guys, it isn't a competition, and you've still got a week so don't slack off now." I warned, "We'll get together next week, the day before the festival to go over how we'll handle the line up... For now uh, I guess you're dismissed!"

Three weeks, they went by so quickly. We met here on the northern beach every few days to go over progress. And for the most part, everything was proceeding as planned. The progress of my classmates was slow, but noticeable. It wasn't just that they were improving their Quirks, they were building confidence. And I think that was more important, the people of Nabu Island could care less if they actually had amazing Quirks, they just wanted to see everyone doing their best and having a good time.

But as they cleared the beach, I knew I had to get back to my own training. As fun as it was seeing their progress, I had my own to focus on. This month, and my freedom to train without people questioning it too much, it let me work on my Quirk and how I wanted to evolve. I'd gained access to just about every complete genetic strand in the codex hidden inside of my power cells.

It wasn't enough.

Many of them were useless, aside from maybe a good disguise. I'd never find a combat use for a green iguana, or a gardener snake. However, there was something else I'd started to explore. As I sifted through the fragmented, incomplete genetic strands hidden away inside of me. I was close to perfecting it, my new power, and maybe the last one my Quirk was capable of providing. The power t-

"Ahem." I blinked, turning my head to see Red standing there. Rare that she came to talk to me, and by rare I mean it never happened. "What the hell has you so distracted?"

I couldn't exactly say narrating the story could I? "Just thinking about my own training." I shrugged casually.

"Hmph, right... Last time I checked the plan," She crossed her arms, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "You didn't actually explain what you'll be doing during the Expo."

I stiffed slightly, "W-Well, I figured I would just cycle through a few of my less terrifying forms."

"Huh, is that so?" She wasn't buying it. "Seems like an awful lot of training you're doing, just to bounce between forms."

Alright, I wasn't doing this now. "Is there something in particular I can help you with, or are you just here to bug me?"

Red held my gaze for a moment, maybe realizing I wasn't going to play along with her questioning. "Actually, I wanted your help with something."

"And why didn't Amari mention that before?" I questioned suspiciously.

"Because this isn't Amari asking, it's me." She assured, "Come on, follow me."

"Well, at least you're being direct this time," I idly joked, "Instead of sending a fake love letter." Though, to be honest Amari hadn't really been much of a bother lately. Since we started this practicing for the festival, or rather since we had that argument on the beach, she'd started acting differently.

We walked along the northern shore, making our way across the island as day slowly turned to evening. I didn't ask any questions, quietly walking alongside her and enjoying the scenery. I noticed that island in the distance, just off the north eastern coastline. It was connected to the main part of Nabu Island by a long sandbar that just barely broke the surface of the water. Though I'm guessing high tide would change that in a few hours.

"If I didn't know any better," I commented idly as we grew closer. "I'd say you were taking me to a secret location... Probably to kill me."

"Just shut up," She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Do you know what's on that island?" Though she didn't give me a chance to answer, "Ruins, an old castle... Nobody ever goes there, aside from tourist season during the summer."

"And... That's where we're going?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

As we hit the sand again, she remained quiet for a moment. "Because... I need to test something." Red admitted, "And, you're the only person that can help."

An interesting change of tune, "And I don't suppose Amari agreed to this did she?"

"No, she didn't... But she doesn't control what I do in my free time." Red added, "And I don't control her either, our relationship wouldn't work if we tried to interfere with one another like that."

Makes sense, "You're more like sisters, than just different personalities." I noted.

"Yeah, something like that..."

This was... Strange. I'd only ever heard of Red being aggressive, crass and blunt. This weird level of secrecy was different. As we made our way across the sandbar, tides crashing against the natural walkway around us. It took almost ten minutes for us to reach the far side, stepping onto the secondary island. From here, I could see the ruins up the hill. The lack of footprints told me no one had been here in a long time.

She stopped though, before we could make the ascent up to the fortress ruins. Slowly turning to face me, "So... The reason I brought you here..."

Oh this should be good, "Well," I crossed my arms. "I'm waiting."

"Shut up!" She barked at me, cheeks flushed a bit. "This isn't easy for me!" Eyes drifting down, as she took a deep breath, "Look... I want you to fight me again!"

Huh, "So I guess I was pretty close with that whole, murder me, thing."

"Don't be a smartass!" Red barked in annoyance, "I know you were messing around when I attacked you before, but I'm stronger now! I've spent all my time training and I want a rematch!"

Come on, it's been over a month since that happened. "And if I say no?"

"Then I'll just attack you!" She declared, "And force you to defend yourself!" Her hair flaring up, eyes glowing brighter as she started activating her Quirk.

I had a feeling she wasn't going to let me out of this one. So there was no point in arguing with her.

"Alright, fine." It had been too long since I'd had a sparring partner anyways. "But we stop when I say so."

"Hmph, sure whatever, now lets GO!" Kicking off one foot, she charged without warning. I was surprised to find that she was faster than before, more so than I expected. I actually had to put some effort into the first dodge, sidestepping her blow before knocking her back with an open palm strike to the center of her chest. It seemed to knock the wind out of her for a moment. I didn't hit her full force of course, I didn't want to actually hurt her.

"Well, you're definitely faster." I noted, actually putting up my guard this time.

"You think that's fast? Ha!" Her eyes flashed brighter, orange and red sparks dancing around her as a light gust of wind erupted from her body. "That was just my power multiplied by three! But I've gotten a lot stronger! I can push myself further!" I could see her straining herself, gritting her teeth, "Lets see how you handle... Times FOUR!"

She crossed the distance between us in only a second, throwing a heavy handed punch. Even with her power and speed increase, her movements were still straightforward and sloppy. I blocked the attack head on, raising my arms in a crossblock. On impact with her knuckles, I slid back a few inches in the sand.

"I won't let up!" She stepped into it, continuing with a barrage of heavy handed blows. Her knuckles crashing into my hard scales, I let her hit me with everything she had. "HAAAAAH!" With one final, powerful blow I slid back even further. She was panting heavily, her lights starting to die down quickly. "H-How do you like that?" She was totally gassed.

I lowered my arms, smirking faintly. "Well, I definitely felt those ones... In a long drawn out fight, I might actually be in trouble." I saw her smirk melt away as she realized how little damage she'd actually done to me, "But you've got to work on focusing that power, and I'm guessing pushing your body that hard drains your reserves at an equally multiplied rate."

Her despair quickly turned to rage, "Gnnngh! AAAGH! COME ON!" She threw her hands up, "After all of that! I still couldn't even hurt you!?" She dropped to her knees, slamming her fists into the sand. "Dammit!"

Well, she was taking this worse than I thought. "Would you feel better if I came to school tomorrow with some bandages wrapped around my arms?"

"SHUT UP!" Her cheeks were red with embarrassment, and she was pouting as she glared up at me.

No, I wasn't going to let up. "Honestly this was a pretty long walk for such a short fight, we could have done this at the other beach and saved ourselves some time." I was just teasing her at this point, trying to diffuse some of her frustration with bad humor.

"Ugh, just kill me, end my misery." She groaned, burying her face in her hands for a moment. Before releasing a muffled- "Why are you so damn strong?"

"I don't know, genetics?" I shrugged casually.

She finally raised her head, clearly trying to fight a smile on her face. "You're such a jackass..." Shaking her head, Red slowly began to stand up. Her legs a little wobbly, she stumbled a bit. I managed to catch her with one arm, helping her stay balanced. "Gnngh! Dammit... That new multiplier... It's a hell of a rush."

Yeah I could tell, "Do you need help getting back home?" I offered, the idea of leaving her out here alone as it got dark wasn't a very appealing one. "I promise I'm strong enough to carry you." Joking lightly.

"Eh, I would but... Amari might get mad at me." Chuckling lightly to herself as she sunk down and sat in the sand.

I blinked, "What? Why would she get mad at you?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine after I rest a few minutes, just get out of here." She tried to wave me off.

Ha, yeah right. "Nope, not gonna happen." I replied, taking a seat a few feet away. "It's my turn to bug you."

"Oh come on," She rolled her eyes, "I already have a headache..."

"Well, you literally just attacked me so... I'd say this is fair."

"Whatever, fine," She sighed heavily, "What do you want?"

"I was just wondering, how things look from the other side." I shrugged.

"What do you mean, other side?"

"When you're not the one in control." I suppose I should have elaborated on that.

"Oh," She blinked in surprise, shooting me a sideways glance. "That's... It's kind of hard to describe," Red trailed off for a moment, as if thinking how to explain it. "Imagine... You're watching someone, through a screen... You can see things through their eyes, but also they're... Standing right in front of you, the only thing keeping you apart is a glass wall." Huh, it almost sounds like a prison to whoever isn't in charge. "We experience what the other is experiencing, but have our own thoughts and feelings..."

"So it really is two different people in one body." I nodded, "That's amazing..."

"I know she said that she handles the academics and I do the physical stuff," Red went on, "But I'm just as smart as Amari, and she's just as physically capable as me... Minus the Quirk stuff anyways."

"I figured as much, it would be strange if your body didn't retain physical improvements between personalities." I chuckled lightly, "Did you guys ever want to be heroes? I mean, I get the feeling Amari wasn't ever interested but... You've got a great flashy Quirk for that kind of thing."

"Yeah... Once upon a time," Her tone shifted slightly, "But... Amari doesn't like fighting, can barely stand the sight of blood, and with my limitations, only being able to output energy, it'd be too dangerous for her if I ran out of power during a fight or disaster." These didn't sound like her reasons, they sounded like the ones someone else had given her.

But I wasn't going to push it, "Well that's too bad..." No point reopening old wounds. "Must be nice though, always having someone there for you."

She shifted her feet in the sand idly, "Sort of... But, as much as we support one another, we can never actually... I don't know, the way we're separated physically is... How do I say this without it sounding totally stupid or like a sob story?" She ran a hand through her fiery hair, "It's like, if you had an older sister you couldn't hug... We literally can't make contact with one another in any way physically."

"Huh... Yeah, I guess that could get a little lonely," I didn't even think about that. "Have you ever thought about... I don't know, breaking your glass wall? Trying to destroy the screen you watch each other through?"

Red quirked an eyebrow, before shaking her head. "That is the only thing separating us... I don't think breaking it would be a very good idea, might not even be possible."

I shrugged, "Yeah I suppose you're right," Before I pushed myself back up to my feet. "Alright, I'm gonna start heading back."

Red nodded, "See ya round lizard boy." Waving me off as I stretched a bit. "And uh... Thanks."

"For what?"

"For giving me something to work towards," She smirked suddenly, "I will get strong enough to knock you on your ass, just you wait!"

"If you say so," I chuckled, stuffing my hands into my pockets as I started walking towards the sandbar. "But I'm not holding my breath!"